The former Soviet republic Armenia, gripped for days by anti-government protests, has a troubled past of genocide and territorial disputes.
Bordering Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Armenia is also a cradle of Christianity packed with architectural gems and boasting a vast, star-studded diaspora.
- Genocide dispute -
For decades Armenia and Turkey have been at odds over whether the World War I massacres and deportations of Armenians by their Ottoman rulers should be described as genocide.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915 and 1917, and have long sought international recognition this was genocide.
Turkey rejects the term and puts the number of dead at between 300,000 and 500,000.
The United Nations defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".
Turkey says what happened was civil conflict and a collective tragedy.
Around 20 countries and some parliaments have voted through laws or resolutions recognising there was genocide, to the fury of Ankara.
In 2009 Armenia and Turkey signed agreements known as the Zurich protocols in a bid to normalise relations but the process, never ratified, was ditched by Yerevan in March 2018.
- Star-studded diaspora -
The Armenian diaspora that developed in the wake of the 1915 genocide is now vast -- around 8 to 10 million people according to estimates -- and it holds some famous figures.
Reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian, the singer Charles Aznavour, Hollywood's Cher and France's football World Cup-winning striker Youri Djorkaeff all have roots in Armenia.
The diaspora is strongest in Russia (1.5 million), followed by the US (1.3 million) and France (400,000).
- Small enclave -
Contested over by the Persian, Turkish and Russian empires in the 18th and 19th centuries, Armenia was briefly independent from 1918 to 1922, when it was absorbed by the USSR.
It declared its independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991.
With no sea access, this small enclave in the South Caucasus has 2.9 million inhabitants, some 30 percent of which live on the poverty line according to the World Bank in 2016.
With its economy closely tied to Moscow, which takes in nearly a quarter of its exports, Armenia was badly hit by Russia's economic crisis from 2014, sparked by international sanctions and the fall in oil prices.
Armenia, which has a high unemployment rate, also suffers from a blockade imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey.
- Azerbaijan conflict -
Armenia and neighbouring Azerbaijan are locked in a long-simmering conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region.
Ethnic Armenians backed by Yerevan seized control of Nagorny Karabakh from Baku in a war in the early 1990s that left an estimated 30,000 dead.
The two sides never signed a definitive peace deal and attempts to negotiate a final settlement have long been stalled.
In April 2016 at least 110 people were killed in Karabakh from all sides as the simmering violence flared into the worst clashes in decades.
- Biblical land and heritage gems -
In the fourth century AD, Armenia became the first country to officially embrace Christianity.
It has inherited abundant architectural heritage -- Byzantine monasteries, archaeological remains -- all nested among tree-covered mountains, spectacular gorges and green valleys.
Many cultural and natural sites in Armenia are classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
